


Dear Universe, Please Bring Him Back

by IndigoFudge



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But it's there, Dead Eddie Kaspbrak, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Soft Richie Tozier, Temporary Character Death, The Turtle CAN Help Us (IT), and I mean very minor, but he comes back to life, like just a brief mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24075355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndigoFudge/pseuds/IndigoFudge
Summary: Eddie dies. Richie makes a deal with a certain turtle to bring him back to life.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 52





	Dear Universe, Please Bring Him Back

**Author's Note:**

> i'll give up my own life for him, i'll die for him, i'll do anything to save him, i'll give him my heart and my lungs and i'll be fine with dying but please don't let this be it please don't let him be gone for good there are so many things i wanted to say and i said some of them back in the cave but it wasn't enough i'll do
> 
> anything

Richie thought he knew true fear while fighting It, but that was small. He realizes what _real_ fear is when the claw slices through the middle of Eddie's chest. _That_ makes Richie feel cold and absolutely terrified.

He presses his jacket to Eddie's wound, trying desperately to make things better. "Eds, stay with me, _stay_ , come _on,_ please, keep breathing, breathe, breathe, _breathe!_ "

Eddie reaches a shaking hand and brushes it against Richie's cheek. "S-sorry, I'm- I'm sorry, Rich, I wasn't- _ah_ , I wasn't brave enough. I tried. I tried _so hard..._ " 

"Shh," Richie says. He grabs Eddie's hand, holding the knuckles against his lips. "Save your energy, you need to focus on breathing right now. And fuck, Spaghetti, don't apologize. You were so brave! You _are_ brave!" 

Eddie exhales, moving his gaze to the ceiling. "Really, Richie? 'Cause I didn't- I wasn't- hm. I got myself stabbed up there. Now I'm..." He laughs wetly, looking back at Richie. "Y'know, you're the best. You were always my favorite. I have to tell you something, okay?"

"What, buddy?" Richie kisses Eddie's hand again - _It's not romantic if I'm just doing it to comfort him -_ and gets closer, so close that he's sitting right next to him. "What is it?" _It's coming and I can't stop it, he's dying and I can't stop it._

"I loved it when you called me Eds," Eddie admits, eyes filling with tears. Then he gasps sharply, leaning his head against Richie. 

Richie puts his arm around Eddie's shoulders. "Yeah? Well, I guess I won't stop, then. Eds, Eds, Eds. You're going to regret this, when we get out of here. I'll call you Eds for the rest of your life and you'll get so tired of it. Eds." He tries to put on a brave face, tries to imagine that they will get out of here. "I'm right here, Eds."

Eddie smiles. His eyelids start to close. "Don't leave," he whispers. 

"I won't leave, I promise you that. I'm staying right here, okay? Right here," says Richie. Then, as an afterthought: "Eds?"

"Mm?"

"I've got you."

"Thanks, Richie." Eddie sighs.

Richie waits for him to inhale again, pleads for it, but it doesn't happen.

"No, no, _fuck,"_ Richie cries. His voice is raw. "Eds, Eddie Spaghetti, come on, open your eyes! Eds... _Eds..._ "

Eddie's glazed eyes stare up at the rocky ceiling, half-open, sparkling. 

Richie is numb and grieving as the others return and Ben picks Eddie up and they all escape. Numb and grieving and wishing for someone, anyone, he doesn't know and doesn't _care_ who it is, to save Eddie.

Sitting on the side of the road outside Neibolt with Eddie's body in his lap, he's desperate.

In his head, he starts talking, sending out a universe-wide call for _something_ to bring life back to this empty corpse.

 _Please bring him back, I don't even mean a god in the traditional sense, not the church god, not any god really that people think about when they think about_ god, _but if there is one of those gods listening then yeah that would work too, please anyone, please, bring Eddie back, I'll do anything, I'll do_

_anything_

_i'll give up my own life for him, i'll die for him, i'll do anything to save him, i'll give him my heart and my lungs and i'll be fine with dying but please don't let this be it please don't let him be gone for good there are so many things i wanted to say and i said some of them back in the cave but it wasn't enough i'll do_

_anything_

_i'll give up my memories, even the good ones, even the ones of being alone in the clubhouse and staring into each other's eyes and i think we both knew back then but neither of us said anything because we were just kids and we were too scared, especially me, but even though we were scared we still held hands and hugged and said oh yes this is normal because we are just friends just friends just friends, i'll give up the memories of eds sleeping at my house and we would stay up and the room would be quiet and i think i did want to kiss him very much but i didn't because i was stupid, but if you bring him back i'll kiss him now if he wants, i'll do_

_anything_

_i'll stop drinking and smoking and telling shitty jokes, i'll write my own jokes, is that what you want, or i can stop entirely and quit everything, i'll stay in my apartment and meditate all day and go on a fucking juice cleanse, i'll become a hermit and live alone in the forest, i'll never talk to another human, i'll start a garden and bake and recycle everything and not use any electricity at all i guess i'll be 'one with nature' i'll give myself up i'll do_

_anything_

_i'm starting to remember more now and i'm not too sure that i want to, i'm remembering that time when we were fifteen and eds sprained his ankle and had a panic attack because his mom would flip if she found out, so he walked me through how to fix him up and every time i touched his skin there was an electric shock, and i wrapped his ankle and then his pants leg could cover the bandages so his mom wouldn't see, and he thanked me and he gave me that cute smile with his dimples and then we hugged, only for a minute though because then we pulled away and cleared our throats and fixed our shirts because it was just a hug as friends, friends can hug too, and now he can never hug anyone again because he's dead i'll do_

_anything_

_once we got popsicles from the ice cream truck and we sat on the curb and ate them and he touched his head to mine, just for a second, and oh i almost choked on my popsicle but i kept my composure and shoved him back, a playful shove of course because i would have rather died than cause him any pain, and he broke into that big smile and his eyes crinkled up and he pretended to hit me, and when we were done with our popsicles somehow our sticky fingers managed to entwine and before we knew it we were holding hands but it wasn't weird, i smiled and he smiled and i squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine back, fuck i miss that, i miss sitting together on summer days and holding hands, i want that back, i'll do_

_anything_

_there was one time he had a panic attack after we saw henry bowers on the street, and we were alone in the clubhouse and i was holding both of his hands and coaching him on how to breathe but nothing would work, until finally i just hugged him and ran my hands up and down his back and hm that helped isn't that strange, isn't that odd, but the odder thing is that we kept hugging even after the panic attack was over, and he whispered in my ear thank you, and i whispered back that it's no problem i'm always here for you that's what friends do, and then we pulled away from the hug but we kept our shoulders touching, i always liked touching him, i always liked being near him, i'll do_

_anything_

_i remember the night before i went away to college we went down to sandy point beach and sat on a rock near the ocean, and we were skipping rocks, and eds looked nervous about something, i_ _don't know what was going through his head that day but i know what was going through mine, i was thinking hm this is nice i don't want this to ever end, i want to stay here sitting on this rock with eds and smelling the ocean air and the cool breeze and listening to the waves, because once i leave i don't know if i'll ever get the chance to do this with him again, and wouldn't you know i never did get to do it with him because once i left that town my memories drained away and there was nothing left but the faint shadow of a boy with brown hair and a fanny pack who i always got nervous around, i want to go back to that day, i want to see him alive again, i'll do_

_anything_

_i remember him now of course and that's why i rang the gong at jade of the orient, i wanted to hug him but i didn't, i sat a chair away from him instead and we arm wrestled because it was the only excuse i could think of to hold his hand, and he looked so bright and warm and his dimples were still there, he never really changed, he still carried around that inhaler like a life preserver, he still seemed nervous all the time, but he deserves to be happy, he deserves to have a nice life and be happy and content, please let him do that, i'll do_

_anything, i'll do_

_anything._

And then Richie runs out of words to express just how badly he wants Eddie to be alive and breathing, so he stops, and instead whispers "Eddie, Eds, Eds" under his breath like a mantra. 

"Eddie

Eds

please wake up, I'm right here, I've got you and you're safe from that fucking clown if you just wake up, open your eyes and take a breath, please can that happen, please. 

Eddie

look, I'm holding your hand, you're safe, we're outside and it's nice out, it's _sunny_ out, you know, and all you have to do is just open your eyes and then you can complain to me about how we need to put on sunscreen or else we'll get skin cancer, complain to me like you always did, complain to me like you always _will_ because it isn't over yet, it can't be over. If it's over I think I'm, ha, I think I'm going to be done with too. But don't worry about that, all you have to worry about is breathing. Breathing and _living._

I think I love you, really love you, and-"

Eddie Kaspbrak opens his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Richie blinks. It takes approximately 2.7 seconds for his brain to process what is happening, and then he bursts into tears.

The first word out of Eddie's mouth is "Richie?"

"Yeah, it's me, Eds, I'm right here, and you're safe now outside," Richie manages to say. "Oh god, oh fuck, you were _dead_ and you weren't breathing."

Color is beginning to return to Eddie's face as his heart resumes pumping blood through his veins. "I'm alive now. It's okay."

One of the Losers - Ben - calls out "Holy shit, Eddie!" but then someone else - Bev - says "Shh, give them some time alone" and then they stop talking.

"No, you're still bleeding and we have to get you to the hospital-"

"Richie," Eddie says. "The wound is gone."

Richie looks. It is.

 _'I heard you, Richie_ _Tozier,'_ says a voice inside Richie's head. _'I heard your pleas_ _and I have returned life to the body of Eddie Kaspbrak.'_

 _Thank_ you, thinks Richie. _Thank you. What do you need in return? I'll do-_

 _'Yes, yes, I heard. You'll do anything.'_ The voice sounds like it's smiling. _'But all that I need is for you to tell him the things you told me. The things you wished would happen, the way you felt about him and just assumed he didn't feel the same way.'_

Richie meets Eddie's eyes, and his gaze is so warm that Richie gets lost in it. "Eds," he says.

"Mhm?" Eddie sits up, but does not get out of Richie's lap.

"Eds, I'm in love with you. That's why I never got married. I'm in love with you and it's alright if you don't love me too, it's alright, because I'll always... have that day at Sandy Point when we were skipping rocks to look back on." Richie is finding it hard to breathe.

Eddie smiles a soft smile. Then he leans forward and kisses Richie on the lips. "Why do you think I looked so nervous that day?"

"I don't know," says Richie, stupidly.

"I'm in love with you too, dumbass. Always have been, and always will be."

They kiss again, and then Richie waves the other Losers over and there's a very tearful group hug, Eddie reassuring everyone multiple times that he's okay and that the wound mysteriously closed up.

And _then_ Eddie says "Did you know Richie loves me?"

"It was obvious," Bev says, giggling. "But we're happy for you two."

 _'You did well,_ _Richie_ ,' says the voice. 

_Thanks. Who the hell are you, anyway?_

_'My name is Maturin. Ask Mike. He has a very large amount of knowledge about me.'_

_Oh. Okay._ "Hey Mike?" Richie asks out loud.

"Yeah?" Mike looks up from where he is not-so-inconspicuously leaning against Bill.

"What do you know about Maturin? The... god?"

Mike raises his eyebrows. "Why?"

"No reason. I was just begging anyone to bring Eddie back to life and Maturin answered me as long as I admitted my long-held love," says Richie.

"What-" Mike starts, but Richie cuts him off.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I'm cuddling my revived best friend-slash-lover, so that kind of takes priority for me."

"That makes sense."

Yes, Richie will find the time to tell the others. Maybe when they return to the Townhouse. But for now, he's okay with where he's at - more than okay. He gives Eddie a kiss on the temple, and then hugs him tightly. "Love ya, Spaghetti."

This is nice, too.

Very nice.


End file.
